


But It's Better If You Do

by queenlara



Series: College Verse (the "of All Time" verse) [1]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, F/M, M/M, extreme stupidity and UST, part of a series where shenanigans occur
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-24
Updated: 2015-02-24
Packaged: 2018-03-14 23:10:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,956
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3428993
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/queenlara/pseuds/queenlara
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The greatest bungee jumping of All Time. Or, in which Natasha gets Steve to bungee jump with her, giving Bucky a coronary—all part of her master plan to get Bucky to realize he has feelings for Steve.</p>
            </blockquote>





	But It's Better If You Do

**Author's Note:**

> I claim no ownership of the characters or the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Song title from Panic! At The Disco
> 
> This is part of a larger AU that me and my roommate (angelheadedcas) have come up with. We have a huge headcanon page that we're trying to incorporate into this series, and if people like it, we'll probably move away from the ficlets we're writing into trying to turn this into an actual story. We have a skeleton plot sketched out, and we're working on building character and relationships in these ficlets. 
> 
> The end notes include some important information on the AU, so feel free to read that to get a gist of the AU.

“Are you sure it’s okay to miss statistics for this? I’m pretty sure the professor hinted at a pop quiz…”

“I’m sure,” Natasha reassures Steve. “Anyways, this is the best time to do this. After all, James and Sam are stuck in that atrocious freshman psychology lecture, the least we can do is entertain them.”

Steve glances over at her, adjusting his harness. “Still, we both need to pass this class. And unlike you, I’m not a mathematical genius.”

“If you’re that worried, I’ll give you a practice problem. What is the statistical probability that James will burst a blood vessel when he looks out the window and sees us jumping?” She grins. _Or more specifically, you jumping, that overgrown mother hen_ , Natasha thinks. She was going to make Barnes realize his feelings one way or another.

They’ve pulled a lot of stupid shit over their time at college, but bungee jumping off of the fifteen-story library has to take the cake. That wide, overhanging ledge and perfect view the psychology lecture has of the library is just begging to be taken advantage of.

Double-checking the rope and her harness, she tries to contain the mirth threatening to bubble out of her. Man, James is going to be so pissed, and seeing Sam simultaneously yell at them and try and calm James down is just icing on the cake.

Steve moves towards the edge, peering over it.

“Why does a computer science major know so much about bungee jumping, anyways?” he asks, running a hand through his short-cropped blond hair.

“Don’t ask questions you don’t want to know the answer to,” Nat replies as she reaches back to pull her short, curling hair into a stubby ponytail. She absently notes that some of the students in the psych lecture have begun to point towards the window, calling over their friends to see the two crazy freshmen about to jump off of the library.

"Are you sure you don’t need your inhaler?" Natasha asks. She may have a daredevil streak, but she doesn’t want anything happen to Steve, _despite what Barnes might think._

"Nah, I’m good. I should take off my glasses though, Peggy would kill me if I broke another pair." With that, he sets his glasses carefully by his backpack. Peggy would definitely drag him back home by his ear if he broke another pair of glasses. He has already broken two since coming to school, and they’ve only been here for three months. Standing up, Steve gives the redhead a thumbs up. "Ready!" he calls cheerfully.

Natasha steps back and takes a deep breath. Here goes nothing. _If this doesn’t make James realize that he’s in love with Rogers, then nothing will._

Natasha twirls her hand and gives Steve a mock-bow. “After you,” she offers, winking at him.

"Wait a moment, is that Buck and Sam? Man, they’re already outside the building! He must be really mad!" Steve exclaims, pointing towards the two blurs running towards the foot of the library.

"Maybe I’ll jump first," Natasha amends. _I mean, I want James to realize his feelings, but if I let Steve jump first he might actually strangle me, cops or no cops,_ she thinks, glancing down to see a familiar officer offer a wave, lips twitching into a smirk.

Without waiting for an answer from Steve, she backs up, takes a deep breath, and makes a running start for the edge of the roof. _Maybe I should make a rage comic about this._

**********

James Buchanan Barnes, known as Bucky to everyone except Nat, sits in his freshman psychology lecture, attempting to twirl a pencil with his prosthetic hand. He, like many other students, is not paying any attention to the droning professor. Samuel Wilson, on the other hand, is diligently taking notes on Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs.

"Maslow stated that while physiological needs, such as breathing, food, water, and sex are the base needs of the human, needs such as safety, love and belonging, esteem, and self-actualization are also important to the health of the human psyche…" The professor pauses for a moment to scratch at his sparse mustache, and in that moment, chaos breaks out across the lecture hall.

“Look at those guys!”

“Are they committing suicide? No wait, is that…a harness? Where are the police?”

“Holy shit, I think they’re bungee jumping off of the library!”

A crowd of students has already formed in front of the floor-to-ceiling windows that make up the east wall of Winston 305, and the professor attempts to—unsuccessfully—teach over the ruckus.

Bucky glances over at Sam, deciding to reserve judgement until he sees the other’s face (even though he knows, _he knows_ that it’s probably—definitely—Nat and Steve. Those dipshits.)

Sam’s aghast face tells the whole story, and the pencil snaps in Bucky’s hand as he bolts up, sprinting towards the door. He only pauses to haul a frozen Sam out of his seat by the collar of his letterman jacket.

He is single-minded in his goal, only half hearing Sam let out a string of curses that would even offend Chancellor Fury.

He is going to _kill_ Natalia. And then kill Steve for going along with her ideas. And he _knows_ it’s her idea—it always is—and Steve always goes along with them. _Does he even have a brain under all those muscles? How on earth did he get into college—no, how on earth did he live this long with absolutely no common sense?_ Bucky wonders exasperatedly.

By the time Bucky and Sam reach the quad, a few of the university cop cars are already parked on the grass. Instead of yelling through the megaphones he knows they have, the cops are just leaning against the doors, grins on their faces. _Damn that Natalia, how does she even have friends on the local force? No, did she drag Coulson into this?_

“Dude,” Sam pants, “How far ahead did they plan this? ‘Cause those cops obviously are just here for the show.”

“I don’t know, but I am going to strangle both of them once they are safely back on the ground.”

Above, Natasha backs up, and takes a running start to swan dive off of the roof, rope strung taut as she bounces back up. Steve decides to fall backwards off of the roof, waving enthusiastically to Sam and Bucky once he spots them on the ground.

“James!” Natasha yells, stray curls escaping from her ponytail, “So glad you could make it! You too, Sam!”

Steve howls with laughter, and Bucky turns around, head in his hands. He can’t watch this anymore, not without climbing to the roof and hauling those smartasses back up so he can throw them off, sans harness.

Sam pats his shoulder. “You can’t kill them, man. Not with the cops watching.”

“I know,” Bucky grinds out, “But all bets are off once I drag those fuckers back to the dorms.”

**********

Once the momentum wears off and they shimmy back up the ropes to the safety of the roof, Steve and Natasha collapse in fits of laughter.

“Did-did you see their _faces_? I thought ol’ Buck was going to have a _coronary_!" Steve gasps out, slapping the ground.

“His face was like a tomato! And oh— _ohmygod_ —did you see Sam? He was just as mad as James, except he tried so hard to pretend he wasn’t so James wouldn’t fly off the handle!” Natasha agrees, laughing as she lays spread eagle on the roof.

“We should probably face the music now,” Natasha adds amiably, sitting up once she finished hooting with laughter.

“Keep a straight face,” Steve says, offering her a hand and helping her to her feet. He slings the bungee gear over one shoulder, squinting at the sky. “Oh man, they’re going to kill us.”

“It was totally worth it.”

“Never said it wasn’t, Nat. Never said it wasn’t.”

**********

Once they walk triumphantly out the library doors to the clapping of students around them, Natasha grabs Steve’s arm and drags him to a familiar cop.

“Officer Coulson,” she greets him. Hands folded behind his back, he looks like any presentable, straight-laced officer. The truth was he was a damn good cop, and probably deserved a better job than babysitting college students.

“Ms. Romanoff. Good to see you and Mr. Rogers here safe and sound.”

“Never any other way, Coulson. Thanks for the free pass, by the way. I owe you one.”

“After you assisted with that intel on the local street-racing, I owed you one. However, the debt is paid—keep that in mind before you and Mr. Rogers do something else crazy and borderline illegal.”

“Promise it won’t happen again, officer,” Steve offers with a winning smile, and Coulson softens. He had a soft spot for Peggy’s stepson, after all. Natasha hides a grin behind her shoulder—she was counting on that when planning this escapade.

“What the actual _fuck_ did you think you were doing?” Natasha hears James yell, and turns to face the approaching storm. With a red face and a tight frown, he storms over, stopping inches in front of her; Steve shifts uneasily behind her.

“Natalia, what drug were you smoking that made it seem like a good idea to _bungee jump off of the library_?" He spits out, and Natasha can’t take it anymore. Her stoic masks cracks and she bursts into laughter again.

“James, you should see your face! You’re a tomato!”

“Nat, this isn’t funny! I seriously—”

Steve steps smoothly in front of her, brows furrowed. “Buck, you’re overreacting. We were perfectly safe. And don’t only yell at Nat, I was obviously involved.”

“Don’t think you’ve gotten off scot-free, Nat,” James growls, pointing to her, and then whirls to face Steve. “And _you_ , Steven Grant Rogers, what on earth did you think you were doing, going along with her plans! I told you no more stupid shit, and then you decide to fucking bungee jump. Off. Of. The. Fucking. Roof.”

The redhead moves back, smirking slightly as the two stubborn asses figuratively butted heads.

James still has a height advantage over Steve, and he’s using it to all his might. Their chests are only an inch from each other as James tries to yell himself hoarse and Steve tries to defend his actions.

"Don’t think I don’t know what you’re doing," a voice says behind her, and she suppresses the urge to jump. Sam had snuck up behind her, grinning.

"Yeah, well, they’re moving at the pace of snails. It seems like the only time Barnes acts on his feelings is when Steve does something stupid," she drawls, and Sam snorts.

"What if you just left them to their own devices instead of, I don’t know, meddling in other people’s businesses?"

"They obviously wouldn’t realize what was happening even if it danced naked in front of their faces. They need some help, and I will generously provide it." Smirking a bit, she glances at Sam. "U mad, bro?"

"Damn it, Romanoff, please get up to date. Rage comic memes went out of style five years ago! If you’d just look at the link on meme history that I sent you…and also, just ‘cause I’m Barnes’ impulse control doesn’t mean I’m not legitimately mad as shit. That was hella stupid, even if you were doing it for a vine or something."

"We can hash that out later. I want to watch the UST between Rogers and Barnes. How long do you think it will take for the cops to separate them?" Natasha pauses, hiding a grin. "Also, what’s a vine?"

"Jesus christ, Natasha, you are so behind on pop culture. It’s physically painful to me.”

**Author's Note:**

> The important background at this point is that Bucky and Nat were in the foster system together. Bucky stayed at Steve’s house when he was younger and Steve would always drag Bucky into fights, which led to Bucky being moved to a new foster home where he met Natasha/Natalia (her name was anglicized later on, which is why he sometimes refers to her as Natalia. Nat also refers to him as James, because that’s what he was introduced as). They didn’t like the new foster home, and ended up joining a street gang. They ended up getting out of the gang after shit went down and Bucky lost his arm, and Natasha has a good relationship with the cops because she currently helps them with the lingering gang activity. At this point Sam and Steve don’t know, they only know vaguely that they were in the same shit foster system together. Steve’s step sister is Sharon Carter and step mom is Peggy (fuck, I don’t know why but it kind of ended up working that way. Nat and Sharon room together, and that’s how she and Bucky run into Steve. Sam was randomly paired as roommate’s with Steve. Steve and Bucky reunite on move-in day when Steve is helping Sharon move in and Bucky is helping Natasha.
> 
> Read and Review! A second part of the series will be uploaded later after editing.


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